Chapter 1503 Entering the Place (1/2)

It was after Li Du gathered all that information that he decided to work with Zhong Da Pao.

He could confirm that Zhong Da Pao was not a scammer. In fact, he was a rather upright and responsible person. After going around his business locally for some time, he had made some connections with others. Hence, he was considered a rather decent businessman to work with.

After seeing the situation at the Chinese Village, Li Du said, ”You're quite like a friend of mine back in America. He was nicknamed 'Jesus' by others. I've worked with him previously, and it was a great partnership. Hope that ours will be the same.”

Zhong Da Pao instantly broke into a smile and said, ”So we can work together now?”

”How will we go about that?” Li Du asked directly.

Zhong Da Pao said, ”I know of a few places. Recently, some high-quality goods are being exported. It's all material that can go public. If we can pick out two of those, it should be enough to feed the village for a while.”

”I will provide the information and take care of your safety when I bring you there. I will process the jade that we get and you can pick the stones. The profit split will be twenty-eighty. We only need twenty!”

Such terms for the partnership was quite favorable. Li Du asked, ”Are you sure? Twenty-eighty split?”

”Yes!” The old man replied in high spirits.

Li Du said, ”And how about the investment funds?”

The small old man said cheerfully, ”I don't have money! You will invest!”

On account of the eighty percent split in his favor, Li Du was prepared to accept those terms. The key reason was that he was unable to find a better business partner.

He did not want to waste too much time in that place. Hence, after confirming the partnership, they went to check out the stones.

Zhong Da Pao said, ”I will give you an introduction to the situation here first. Recently, there have been three markets, Hpakant, Longken, and Xiangdong. Out of them, the Hpakant market is the busiest in the morning. Xiangdong is busy through the day and Longken is a night market.”

”Hence, when the seasoned people around here want to save time, they would go for morning tea in Hpakant, have lunch in Xiangdong and go to Longken at night. This is the general function of the markets. What do you think? Would you like to get the general market experience or go straight for the treasure market experience?”

Each field area would have a general market where ad-hoc transactions took place. There were many stones there. The stones that were sent there were usually those that have been rated by experts as being of low value. This meant that the stones that went to the public market were flawed.

Such stones were still more valuable than those in the dump. Their exterior appearance gave them some value which enabled a certain profit margin. It was just that it would not be high. On the other hand, those at the dumpsters were usually trash, even at a superficial glance.

Additionally, the general markets were all quite complex. The relationship of the field and the surrounding area was as such: The field area was like a county of many villages. The field, on the other hand, was like a single village.

The reality corroborated that. The name of the local field was often the name of a village. The gambling stone industry had a saying, 'if they don't see the field, they would not extend their hands'. The meaning was that one could not gamble on a stone without knowing the field where it came from.

The treasure market was inside a field. It was a small market that the field operated privately. That was illegal. However, the potential profit was extremely high as there were many high-quality items produced locally. The businessmen took some chances to open the place, deeming it worth the risk.

The two parties did not understand each other well. There would be some risks to both sides if they went to the treasure markets. Li Du was risking being scammed. Zhong Da Pao, on the other hand, did not have a good understanding of Li Du's background and capabilities. Both parties took a chance on each other.

Li Du gave it a split second's thought before saying, ”Let's check out the general markets.”

It was still early in the day. Zhong Da Pao had left his house in the wee hours of the morning. Hence, he took in the shade of the sky and smiled. ”Alright, then let me treat you to some morning tea.”

Their first stop was the Hpakant area. It was easy to find as it was just beside the town. Although it looked like a robust and well-to-do living area, it was bordered with barbed wire.